Sláinte is the Irish word for health. It speaks to a total form of well being that is not just about the physical. This term is one of the more famous Irish words that is heard time and again around the globe wherever folk gather and raise glasses in a toast. As with a lot of Irish language, there is a deeper meaning to our words.
All over our world, people are starved of recognition, compassion, acceptance, and shockingly hundred of years on, basic food and water. We pride ourselves on the marvels of our modern world and its technological progressiveness, but all of these advances are still benefiting only a potion of our world and leaving the rest to suffer and struggle for their very survival.
The Irish language is often remarked upon for it's poetic turn of phrase and that is no more obvious in the sean fhocail - or 'old words'. Sean fhocail are well known sentences that some might see as cliché, but when each one of them is considered in more than just passing, the deeper wisdom and cultural insights can be glimpsed.
Ar scáth a chéile, a mhaireann na daoine translates as "Under the shelter of each other, people survive."
The Irish language is often remarked upon for it's poetic turn of phrase and that is no more obvious in the sean fhocail - or 'old words'. Sean fhocail are well known sentences that some might see as cliché, but when each one of them is considered in more than just passing, the deeper wisdom and cultural insights can be glimpsed.
Nuair a Bhíonn an Fíon Istigh, Bíonn an Ciall Amuigh!
Today Irish still lives as Ireland still has a number of local areas known as 'Gaeltacht'where the Irish language is the main language used but it is still in danger. As such any time even a few words as gaeilge (in Irish) pass our lips we are each of us doing something to keep it alive.
The fire festivals of Ireland form one of the main cycles by which pagans mark the year. These festivals are still honoured today and used in conjunction with the cycle of the equinox as the basis of many a spiritual or ritual practices.
There are many many ways to get into the Irish Otherworld. The folk lore of Ireland is littered with tales of fairy rings, stray sods, fairy trees, mist walls, sidhe steeds, and boats. Each of these mundane appearing things are more than what they seem, functioning as a doorway or stepping over point from our world to the Other.
Ireland has long been a place set between the worlds and here to this very day we have some very firm and rightly observed lore about the folk of the Otherworld. From our early stories we are told the sidhe and the danger that may befall the unwary. One such danger is known as the fairy ring.
The story of Mary Robinson is one that has always had justice, fairness, and equality at its core, and maybe it was this more than anything that saw her become the first woman president of Ireland in 1990.
In Irish folklore there is much ado made of the powers of a Blacksmith. We see this in the high regard Goibhniu holds within the Tuatha Dé Danann to the deference that King Conchobar makes towards Culainn the smith in the Ulster cycle. The knowledge of fire held by these people, and the skill to use said fire to shape some of the strongest elements has long been held in high regard.
The formation of the Republic of Ireland as an independent country is a long story. One aspect of the Irish struggle for independence that rarely received enough mention in the history books is the role Irish women played in this struggle, and not just within the home but also in demonstrations, activism, unionization and, when all other avenues failed, radical militant action. The Easter Rising was carried forward on the brave actions of not just Ireland's men, but its women also.
Sláinte is the Irish word for health. It speaks to a total form of well being that is not just about the physical. This term is one of the more famous Irish words that is heard time and again around the globe wherever folk gather and raise glasses in a toast. As with a lot of Irish language, there is a deeper meaning to our words.
All over our world, people are starved of recognition, compassion, acceptance, and shockingly hundred of years on, basic food and water. We pride ourselves on the marvels of our modern world and its technological progressiveness, but all of these advances are still benefiting only a potion of our world and leaving the rest to suffer and struggle for their very survival.
The Irish language is often remarked upon for it's poetic turn of phrase and that is no more obvious in the sean fhocail - or 'old words'. Sean fhocail are well known sentences that some might see as cliché, but when each one of them is considered in more than just passing, the deeper wisdom and cultural insights can be glimpsed.
The Irish language is often remarked upon for it's poetic turn of phrase and that is no more obvious in the sean fhocail - or 'old words'. Sean fhocail are well known sentences that some might see as cliché, but when each one of them is considered in more than just passing, the deeper wisdom and cultural insights can be glimpsed.
Today Irish still lives as Ireland still has a number of local areas known as 'Gaeltacht' where the Irish language is the main language used but it is still in danger. As such any time even a few words as gaeilge (in Irish) pass our lips we are each of us doing something to keep it alive.
The Word Túath is an ancient Irish term that most consider to mean tribe or people. As with almost everything in the Irish language though, there ...
The fire festivals of Ireland form one of the main cycles by which pagans mark the year. These festivals are still honoured today and used in conjunction with the cycle of the equinox as the basis of many a spiritual or ritual practices.
There are many many ways to get into the Irish Otherworld. The folk lore of Ireland is littered with tales of fairy rings, stray sods, fairy trees, mist walls, sidhe steeds, and boats. Each of these mundane appearing things are more than what they seem, functioning as a doorway or stepping over point from our world to the Other.
The story of Mary Robinson is one that has always had justice, fairness, and equality at its core, and maybe it was this more than anything that saw her become the first woman president of Ireland in 1990.
In Irish folklore there is much ado made of the powers of a Blacksmith. We see this in the high regard Goibhniu holds within the Tuatha Dé Danann to the deference that King Conchobar makes towards Culainn the smith in the Ulster cycle. The knowledge of fire held by these people, and the skill to use said fire to shape some of the strongest elements has long been held in high regard.
The formation of the Republic of Ireland as an independent country is a long story.
